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Durations (Pledges)
The duration of a pledge details the length of time the pledge remains in effect. Most of these are cyclical adjudications of time, rather than something measured in hours. Day The pledge that lasts a day is a simple thing, often casually sworn at a whim. The terms of a pledge sworn for a day last for 24 hours. Lesser (+1) Week The pledge that lasts a week is among the most common of pledges -- such oaths last for precisely seven days, to the hour. Lesser (+1). Moon A pledge sworn for a moon lasts 28 days, the turning of a single lunar month. Such pledges are the most common of the vows that changelings consider serious -- the dedication of an oath for a full turning of the moon is usually understood to mean that those involved in the pledge take the oath quite seriously. Medial (+2). Season Traditionally, swearing a pledge for a season is performed at a solstice or equinox event of some kind. When a pledge is made for a season outside of one of these astronomical events, the pledge is understood to stand in effect for precisely 89 days, or one-quarter of a normal year. In freeholds where a different ruler holds power over each of the seasons, oaths of fealty are generally made for a season. Medial (+2). Year and a Day Swearing the year-and-a-day pledge binds the word of those participating for 366 days exactly. The wording is an ancient necessity of the Wyrd -- it is said that those who swear an oath for only a single year risk the oath coming unfrayed in those years where the time-keeping of men did not agree with the passage of time in the world around them: intercalary, or "leap" years. Swearing for a year and a day alleviates this difficulty. Greater (+3). Decade The decade oath lasts for 10 years and 10 days precisely. It is rare to find oaths sworn for this duration -- they are usually pledges of tremendous importance and power. Most changelings prefer to simply swear pledges on a yearly basis or so; agreeing to swear an oath for more than a year reflects great dedication. Greater (+3). Lifelong A lifelong oath lasts until the death of one of the oathbound. Lifelong oaths usually achieve some measure of nearly legendary repute in changeling society; those whose dedication runs deep enough to dedicate themselves to a pledge for the rest of their lives are seen as simultaneously somewhat foolish and noteworthy. Swearing a lifelong oath requires the expenditure of a permanent dot of Willpower from one of the oathtakers in addition to any other invocation expenditures. Greater (+3). Generational It is almost unheard-of for a pledge to be sworn on a generational basis. When this is done, the pledge stays in effect for the lifetime of the oathbound. But even with death, this pledge is not released, for the onus of the responsibility passes on with the next generation -- the children of the oathtakers are themselves bound up to fulfill these oaths as well. This may not necessarily be the physical children of the oathtakers; in changeling society, this is most often an heir acknowledged before the rulers of a freehold. Though this is a greater duration, one of the oathtakers must spend a permanent dot of Willpower (in addition to any other invocation expenditures) in order to use this duration, and both must be in agreement. The oath lasts for a number of generations equal to the Wyrd of the oathtaker that spent the Willpower. Greater (+3).